A Coral Gables firm is planning apartments and a rooftop spot at Florida landmark

Developers plan to transform the vacant lot that once housed Bradenton’s city hall into a seven-story luxury apartment building with nearly 400 units.

The City of Bradenton’s Community Redevelopment Agency Board unanimously supported the idea at its June 11 meeting and moved the application forward. The action directed staff to create a more detailed contract and return to the board.

The upcoming project is listed as a mixed-use development with 367 apartment units, a rooftop restaurant, retail space and other services in the building at 500 15th St. West. These components are estimated to bring over 100 jobs, according to the presentation.

Behind the project is Coral Gables-based Allen Morris Co., which plans to spend $130 million to redevelop the 3.7-acre parcel currently owned by Manatee County.

The Allen Morris Company’s website states construction on the downtown Bradenton project is expected to begin in 2026 and finish in the second quarter of 2028.

“Beyond delivering high-quality rental residences, the project will feature an acclaimed local restaurant overlooking the water, a new dock with kayak and paddleboard rentals and a thoughtfully designed boardwalk connecting Wares Creek to the neighborhood — all open to the public and enriching the urban fabric,” the project website states.

The Allen Morris Company did not respond to the Bradenton Herald’s requests for comment.

Bradenton luxury apartments planned downtown

AMRES Investments, LLC, the investment firm behind the project, is under contract with Manatee County Government to buy the 3.7-acre parcel for $8 million. The parcel was valued at $2.2 million for the 2024 tax year, according to the Manatee County Property Appraiser.

Estimated construction costs for the project are around $130 million, with a stabilized value of $175 million upon completion.

The project would be part of the City of Bradenton’s Community Redevelopment Agency, which utilizes increased property values within designated areas to offer incentives through increment revenue from the property tax increases.

At the June 11 meeting, Executive Director of Bradenton Community and Economic Development Jeff Burton praised the project and its compatibility with the city redevelopment plans. Burton said this is the first market-rate apartment project in the downtown area of the CRA, which will help to build downtown’s tax base.

“They are coming in and giving us something we really do need in downtown,” Burton told the board. “This is a great opportunity, we got a great developer. They’ve done a lot of really good projects.”

The Allen Morris Company’s portfolio includes an extensive list of high-end, luxury apartments in places like Sarasota, St. Petersburg and Miami.

While the complex will mainly be luxury apartments charging market rate, the developers plan to add some amount of workforce housing in order to receive additional incentives from the CRA.

The CRA offers incentives to developers in one of three districts: Central, Downtown and Tamiami Trail. When developers include components like affordable housing, workforce housing, low-impact development or public art, they receive a larger property tax reimbursement.

“We lower the risk with the incentives so the bank feels more comfortable knowing there’s a public partner involved,” Burton told the board at the June 11 meeting. “We lower the risk as much as we feel we can with the public dollar…if we didn’t do it, they wouldn’t build it.”

Carl Callahan represented AMRES Investments, LLC at the June 11 meeting. Callahan was formerly the City Administrator for the City of Bradenton from 2015 to 2021.

Callahan told the board the incentives will help the project move forward with financing, which he said is the toughest obstacle.

“The toughest thing is not building it, the toughest thing is not designing it,” Callahan said. “The toughest thing about any of these projects in Bradenton, because of the rents right now, is to get it financed. So this is the way to help get it financed.”

Before the board voted in favor of the project, Councilwoman Marianne Barnebey voiced support for the idea and said the high-end apartments would help boost downtown’s appeal. It’s critical, she said, to have a mix of high-end apartments and affordable housing in a sustainable downtown.

“If you set everything so that it is all affordable, low-income, you’re going to damage your downtown,” Barnebey said. “You’ve got to mix in the higher rents, the luxury apartments.”

Burton spoke at the meeting about how market-rate apartments would help draw in other services, like a long-awaited grocery store, by creating demand for such services.